Thomas Cook Brings First Group of UK Travelers to Tunisia Since 2015 Attack

Jihen Laghmari, Bloomberg

- Feb 13, 2018 11:30 pm

Skift Take

Tunisia needs tourism and is happy about the return of visitors. Once again, the travel industry is showing some resilience after a brutal attack.

— Dan Peltier

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British package tourists returned to Tunisia’s Mediterranean coast for the first time since militants killed more than 30 people in a 2015 attack on a beach hotel, a boost for a country where recent protests stirred memories of the 2011 uprising that kicked off the Arab Spring.

The visitors brought in by travel company Thomas Cook were greeted at the airport in Sousse, the site of the deadly assault, by a folk band and Tunisians handing out bouquets of jasmine. U.K. government advice warning against travel to Tunisia was withdrawn in July but this is the first time a major British tour company has returned.

“The British market is a strategic one for Tunisia, and the return of Thomas Cook flights today is a strong message of reassurance” to other tourism companies, said Neji Ben Othman, director general of the National Tourist Office. He said Tunisia expects tourism to rebound and that more than 70,000 Britons are likely to visit in 2018.

Often hailed as a rare success story in the uprisings that swept the Middle East in 2011, Tunisia has seen its transition from dictatorship to democracy hampered by high unemployment, terrorist attacks, and labor strife. Violent protests erupted in January against the government’s program of subsidy cuts and tax increases.

This article was written by Jihen Laghmari from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

Photo Credit: Thomas Cook brought the first group of UK tourists to Tunisia this week for the first time since 2015. Pictured are tourists at the Mausoleo de Habib Burguiba en Túnez in Tunisia. El Primer Paso Blog / Flickr